MENA

Both prior to, and in the wake of the Arab Spring, violent conflict, marginalisation and longstanding insurgencies have lead to the erosion of civil liberties, marginalisation, undermined human security and development, prompted mass displacement and a growth in violent extremism and terrorism. The self-termed Islamic State in the Islamic Levant (ISIL) has become the main global center of gravity of such terrorism. It exercises a powerful pull of public opinion attention, of volunteer recruits – known as foreign fighters, and even of intellectual debate among violent and non-violent extremists.

Middle East/North Africa

An extensive stock-taking of counterterrorism-related criminal justice reform and training needs in the Maghreb, Sahel, Horn of Africa, and the Middle East has been completed to establish potential needs for the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law within the GCTF framework and further support for the International Institute was initiated in 2014. A new project is being developed for implementation from early 2016 (11 M€).

From late 2015, the IcSP will support a programme to build national capacity and community resilience to counter violent extremism in Jordan (10 M€).